Life After You
by xThe Dark Ravenx
Summary: Still in love with jack after the Titanic sinks, Rose sits wondering what she will do with her life now. The rain on the house calls her name to better things.


Life after You

The Rain pitter pattered against the window sill, _tap tap tapping_ like a rhythmatic drum outside the quiet house. The thunder rumbled quietly in the distance soothing the winds of the storm that waved like the ocean that swayed like the sea. It was quiet by candle light as a woman with red hair rocked back and forth, her night gown white as a ghost. Her eyes watched the flicker of the flames as she hummed a quiet song, the sweetest song that you ever did hear, one Jack had taught her. It was so sad that she almost expected him to walk through the door, his blond hair soaked from the rain, his trousers muddy from trudging through the puddles. "Hey Rose" he would say with the most loving grinning, and he would have asked her to go with him and she would take his hand and run in the rain.

A newspaper rested on the floor, not touched with a string tied around its body, the front cover with big bold letters; **TITANIC SINKS**. Rose wouldn't look at it as she rested, the sounds of crying ringing in her ears, the awful sound of people drowning struggling to save their babies still tugging at her memories not forgotten. It was too painful to think about, her lost lover pulling at her heart strings and her cheeks stained with tears.

'_What do I do next?_' she thought to herself as she looked at her smooth perfect feet, _'Do I stay or do I go? What do I do now?_' She wondered knowing she didn't want to live the life she had been living; she wanted to do what she wanted. Too long had she lived a limited life, too long had she been an ideal and she was tired of it, tired of being prefect. She could walk away; she already had given the man at the dock a fake name, so why not live that life?

'_I will ride a horse like a man,'_ she thought, _'I will wear old trousers and work on a farm… I will dance, and run and sing, and do everything I have wanted to do…'_ moving on with her life and escaping this one was so wonderful, the thought so sweet like kissing a strawberry and chocolate.

When the rain slowly stopped, the _drip drip dripping_, in the early morning had caught Rose's attention to the thought of leaving, everyone was still sleeping, and her family had all been safe. It had only been a week or two since she had been home and she was a stranger here, she did not belong here. The white halls did not invite her like they used to, the plants all seemed to wilt and the food looked to fake as if she was just playing a role in a play, but the play never ended. Slowly Rose stood keeping quiet as the chair rocked to a stop. Her foot steps were silent as she made her way to the mahogany railings of the stair case that twisted out as if beaconing to come closer. Quickly she stepped the rug softening her steps as the gown she wore rubbed against her legs and her hair fell behind her shoulders. Paintings in the halls watched her as she shuffled to her room quickly; their mocking glances seemed to glare at her when her hand touched the knob of her bedroom door as if knowing what she was thinking and wanted her to stop. Pushing the door open she closed its behind her, everything was exactly how she left it, but it was too perfect, it didn't look like anyone lived here. This place had become a mask, all unfitting; she had changed no longer the Rose that her parents and friends once knew. To live a life that no longer suited her was a joke; Jack had helped her see that. Walking in she stripped down her night gown, leaving it to the floor as she stood in her nakedness. Her body shivered remembering the night, the night he had drawn her and the other when he embraced her in sweet kisses leading to the moment that she didn't want with any other man.

The closet doors opened showing her the cloths that she would no longer ware, her fingers moving one item at a time as she looked for the least expensive articles out of all of them, the least appealing. She didn't want to be noticed for her money. When she found the right cloths she pulled a shirt over her head and her shoulders as she tossed a bag onto the bed filling it with her valuables, money, a brush, a change of clothes and her necklace. She gazed at the necklace a moment and sighed, maybe if it wasn't for this necklace he would still have been with her, but that didn't matter now. A pair of boots rested in the corner that she pulled on one by one, on her foot and up her calf until she couldn't pull anymore and tied her hair into a loose pony tail. Her white shirt puffed out a little of the vest that she wore and her skirt reached the floor loosely resting on her body and easy to move in and didn't puff out like others. A hat rested on her head with a few flowers but that was in now, and most women who could afford it had them. Her soft pale hands wrapped around the suit case handle that was ready to go with a nervous shaking as her heart pounded against her petite rib cage.

Gazing around the room one last time, she looked at the radio, the messed up closet and her too big bed that year for the company of another, and now she would leave it all the way she wanted too. The white walls would be absent of her and would have no more stories to tell about her, the perfect furniture it was almost heart breaking but she wouldn't turn back, she knew her loved ones wouldn't understand, she wasn't going to sit down and shut up anymore, she wouldn't be the ideal that was loved for beauty and not for soul.

Leaving the room the door was open and it wouldn't be closed leaving no surprises. Her hands took her coat and an umbrella past the mocking paintings and the sleeping snores that tickled her ears as if begging her to stay. The plea reached her to the large door to the outside, her hand rested on the knob as if having second thoughts; she swallowed and looked back one last time.

"I am sorry…." She whispered the words quietly pushing the heavy door open and stepping out. The umbrella opened as the rain started to fall again, pat pat patting against the black material. Pausing for a moment she closed the door and began walking again. Her mind reached the memories that made her miss jack, his smile and his drawings, and his ideas. She smiled thinking about spiting and walked by a willow that swayed like the ocean.

"I am going to live my life the way I want too…." She said talking to jack as if he was there, "my life after you…"


End file.
